Author Topic: HOF's Top 50 "Pop" Albums - #31 The first in a series of transitional albums  (Read 7082 times)

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Offline HOF

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Being slammed at work the week before a family vacation put this on hold, but here's a Memorial Day update!

31. Talk Talk - It's My Life (1984)



Most people seem to view Talk Talk's late period avant-garde/post-rock/prog albums as being their masterpieces, while the early ones get lumped in with Duran Duran and other new wave/synth pop acts of the early 80s. The Colour of Spring is usually seen as the transitional link between the two eras. That may be selling the early works short though. While some songs on the debut do lack sophistication, you can still get a sense of where the band would ultimately end up with Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock. It's My Life sees even more of the types of elements that would come to define the later periods of the band. This is a layered and sophisticated pop album, with a colorful blend of electronic elements and more organic sounds, notably, the introduction of trumpet which would become a huge part of The Colour of Spring and beyond. Essentially every album was a transition to the next phase of the band.

Mark Hollis' evocative vocals tend to take center stage for me when it comes to Talk Talk. But listening to this one again now, the amazing fretless bass playing of Paul Webb needs to be emphasized. He's a major anchor to the band's sound, and has such a great melodic sense. It's warm and sinewy, and contrasts nicely with the more electronic drum sound throughout. There is still a good bit of mystery surrounding this band for me, as there is little readily available online information about the band or their recordings, but it also appears that producer Tim Freese-Greene played a large role in crafting the overall sound of the album, including contributing keyboards and drum programming. Mark Hollis was not a trained musician, but as the band went on he surrounded it with more accomplished musicians who could execute his ambitious visions.

It's My Life features a mix of more upbeat, electronic songs and slower, more ambient tracks. The title track is one of the more upbeat synth pop tunes (though far from simplistic musically), while the other singles, "Dum Dum Girl" and "Such a Shame," are a bit more introspective. "Dum Dum Girl" has more of a sing-along chorus, but the versus are quite atmospheric with the aforementioned bass work of Paul Webb taking center stage. "Such a Shame" features a lengthy drum machine and sound effect intro with acoustic guitars on the verses which open to a bigger, more electronic chorus. "Renee" is a slow building, almost tortuous song that starts from a subtle drum loop, keyboards, and fretless bass and builds up to the full band on the chorus. "Tomorrow Started" is similarly slow paced, with layers of synths, guitars, and electronic drum patterns that open into a beautiful instrumental section with piano and trumpet. This song probably hints the most strongly at what the band would eventually become on Spirit of Eden. The back half of the record is more upbeat in general. "The Last Time," and "Does Caroline Know?," have a more quirky, almost light hearted quality about them, the later of which features another really killer bass line and lots of interesting electronic noises and percussion. "Call In The Night Boy" is maybe the most unusual track on the album, with a staccato drum beat and a really cool piano solo that really comes out of nowhere. "It's You" closes the album with one of my favorite Hollis vocal performances. The pre-chorus on this song is just fantastic.

Talk Talk were not a band who repeated themselves, and the releases that followed this one were really extraordinary, but part of me wishes they had hung out in this musical space for another album. It's an interesting blend of sounds and styles, and certainly more accessible than some of what was to come. But part of the beauty of Talk Talk is in how they said what they said in the space of a few albums and then called it a day, with each album being a snapshot of their artistic progression along the way.

Favorite songs: Dum Dum Girl, It's a Shame, Tomorrow Started, Does Caroline Know?, It's You.

Online Kwyjibo

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Haven't heard this in a long time but it's a very good pop record nonetheless.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

Offline KevShmev

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Excellent record.  I know online music fans gush over the next couple Talk Talk records for their apparent influence on later post rock, but It's My Life is most excellent and hard to top. 

Offline HOF

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Excellent record.  I know online music fans gush over the next couple Talk Talk records for their apparent influence on later post rock, but It's My Life is most excellent and hard to top.

It’s just a really good album. Been stuck in my car all week even after I finished writing it up.

Offline Sacul

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Great album, I should revisit it soon. All of their records are really nice, no matter which you pick.